Commissioners offer help to Dana residents with bad wells

Published: Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 2:25 p.m.

County commissioners pledged to do whatever they could Wednesday to help Dana residents with wells contaminated by pesticides, approving a grant application to help the city of Hendersonville extend public water lines to the community.

By a 4-0 vote, commissioners authorized County Engineer Marcus Jones to apply for a $300,000 grant from the Rural Center’s Clean Water Infrastructure Program. The city estimates extending lines to Dana will cost about $600,000, with the balance coming from other grants applied for by the city.

“We need to resolve this whether the grant gets approved or not,” said Chairman Charlie Messer. “When you have no water, or you have problems with water, your whole lifestyle is turned upside down.”

City Utilities Director Lee Smith said the city isn’t eligible for the grant because it already received $500,000 from the rural center to extend an emergency raw water line from the French Broad River to its water plant. There is no local match required from the county, he said.

“Does this grant cover meter fees or tap fees, (so) these people don’t have to pay a tap fee or a hook-up fee?” asked Commissioner Larry Young.

Smith said tap fees would be covered by the grant and the only other charge would be a “system development charge” of $800 per tap, but added, “We’re going to look at how we can relieve that.” He said other grants or waivers from Hendersonville City Council could offset those fees.

Commissioner Grady Hawkins said the county had a similar problem caused by leaking gas tanks at the intersection of Howard Gap Road about 10 years ago and a quick response was needed then.

“I think that we need to get on it as quickly as we can and provide the city of Hendersonville any assistance in getting their grant, so we can get some water relief out in Dana,” he said.

So far, testing by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has shown about 23 of 60 wells off Academy Road and Meadow Woods Drive have levels of pesticides, particularly dieldrin, above state health standards for groundwater. Four of those 23 also show elevated levels of heptachlor epoxide.

Those residents have been asked to limit showering to 10 minutes and not drink the tap water. The state’s Bernard Allen Emergency Drinking Water Fund is providing bottled water for residents to use while the city and county work on extending water lines.

Installing filters on the affected wells would be “very expensive” and require extensive monitoring and maintenance to ensure they’re working properly, said G. Landon Davidson, regional supervisor for the N.C. Division of Water Quality’s groundwater section.

“So the water line is a much better answer long-term,” he said. “It’s still early, but the city and the county are moving very quickly on this. They’re getting the grants in place so things can occur as quickly as possible.”

Optimistically, Smith said construction of the new water line could begin in January, with completion estimated to take six to eight months. That timeline will depend on securing grant funds, surveys, easements, permits and project designs in a timely fashion, he said.

“The construction part should be pretty easy,” he added. “I don’t anticipate any conflicts with fiber or big natural gas mains out there.”

During a public hearing before the meeting, Donella Pressley told commissioners the 40-pound bottles of water delivered to her home on East Hill Drive, where her mother now resides, are fine for drinking and cooking but insufficient for bathing.

“My mother is finding it very difficult to lift these bottles, much less remove the caps and dump the water out,” Pressley said. “If there is anything you can do to possibly help us with this process (of extending city water), we appreciate it.”

Her neighbor, Stan Jones, told the board it’s unfortunate when anyone is exposed to unsafe levels of dangerous chemicals.

“But to have this threatening situation to invade your life through what many of us consider a very sacred thing — our precious mountain well water — is very unsettling and unnerving because this directly affects our quality of life, as well as our length of life,” he said.

<p>County commissioners pledged to do whatever they could Wednesday to help Dana residents with wells contaminated by pesticides, approving a grant application to help the city of Hendersonville extend public water lines to the community.</p><p>By a 4-0 vote, commissioners authorized County Engineer Marcus Jones to apply for a $300,000 grant from the Rural Center's Clean Water Infrastructure Program. The city estimates extending lines to Dana will cost about $600,000, with the balance coming from other grants applied for by the city.</p><p>“We need to resolve this whether the grant gets approved or not,” said Chairman Charlie Messer. “When you have no water, or you have problems with water, your whole lifestyle is turned upside down.”</p><p>City Utilities Director Lee Smith said the city isn't eligible for the grant because it already received $500,000 from the rural center to extend an emergency raw water line from the French Broad River to its water plant. There is no local match required from the county, he said.</p><p>“Does this grant cover meter fees or tap fees, (so) these people don't have to pay a tap fee or a hook-up fee?” asked Commissioner Larry Young.</p><p>Smith said tap fees would be covered by the grant and the only other charge would be a “system development charge” of $800 per tap, but added, “We're going to look at how we can relieve that.” He said other grants or waivers from Hendersonville City Council could offset those fees.</p><p>Commissioner Grady Hawkins said the county had a similar problem caused by leaking gas tanks at the intersection of Howard Gap Road about 10 years ago and a quick response was needed then.</p><p>“I think that we need to get on it as quickly as we can and provide the city of Hendersonville any assistance in getting their grant, so we can get some water relief out in Dana,” he said.</p><p>So far, testing by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has shown about 23 of 60 wells off Academy Road and Meadow Woods Drive have levels of pesticides, particularly dieldrin, above state health standards for groundwater. Four of those 23 also show elevated levels of heptachlor epoxide.</p><p>Those residents have been asked to limit showering to 10 minutes and not drink the tap water. The state's Bernard Allen Emergency Drinking Water Fund is providing bottled water for residents to use while the city and county work on extending water lines. </p><p>Installing filters on the affected wells would be “very expensive” and require extensive monitoring and maintenance to ensure they're working properly, said G. Landon Davidson, regional supervisor for the N.C. Division of Water Quality's groundwater section. </p><p>“So the water line is a much better answer long-term,” he said. “It's still early, but the city and the county are moving very quickly on this. They're getting the grants in place so things can occur as quickly as possible.”</p><p>Optimistically, Smith said construction of the new water line could begin in January, with completion estimated to take six to eight months. That timeline will depend on securing grant funds, surveys, easements, permits and project designs in a timely fashion, he said.</p><p>“The construction part should be pretty easy,” he added. “I don't anticipate any conflicts with fiber or big natural gas mains out there.”</p><p>During a public hearing before the meeting, Donella Pressley told commissioners the 40-pound bottles of water delivered to her home on East Hill Drive, where her mother now resides, are fine for drinking and cooking but insufficient for bathing. </p><p>“My mother is finding it very difficult to lift these bottles, much less remove the caps and dump the water out,” Pressley said. “If there is anything you can do to possibly help us with this process (of extending city water), we appreciate it.”</p><p>Her neighbor, Stan Jones, told the board it's unfortunate when anyone is exposed to unsafe levels of dangerous chemicals. </p><p>“But to have this threatening situation to invade your life through what many of us consider a very sacred thing — our precious mountain well water — is very unsettling and unnerving because this directly affects our quality of life, as well as our length of life,” he said.</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>